APH COVID-19 initiative: Psychosocial effect of Corona measures in people living with cognitive impairment and their caregivers

On March 17, 2020 the Dutch Government issued measures to combat Covid-19 spread. The measures are amongst others intended to protect vulnerable groups such as individuals with cognitive impairment. However, for this group the measures have major consequences. To stay socially connected may be more difficult for them, and feelings of loneliness, anxiety or uncertainty may increase during the corona crisis. In people living with cognitive impairment, the measures have even greater side effects. Besides social isolation, health care facilities may be less accessible. Furthermore, it may be difficult for people living cognitive impairment to find structure during the day and they may be afraid for faster cognitive decline. This in turn increases the caregiver burden. We therefore initiated an online survey to investigate the psychosocial effects of the coronavirus measures in patients whit cognitive impairments and their caregivers living at home.

This online survey is part of OnlineADC. OnlineADC is an online platform that is used for online follow-up of patients that visited the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam ( www.alzheimercentrum.nl ) for their cognitive complaints. OnlineADC comprises a set of questionnaires for patients and their caregivers that focus on patient relevant outcome measures. This research is led by prof.dr. W.M. van der Flier (APH Personalized Medicine) and I.S. van Maurik (APH Personalized Medicine & APH Methodology).